We tried five flavors of Trader Joe's Oat milk beverages: plain, chocolate, pumpkin, maple, and nog. Here's our honest opinion.
Trader Joe's has really upped their oat milk game lately, adding some new seasonal flavors. We are always up for trying new vegan milk alternatives, so we couldn't resist picking up a bunch of them.
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Trader Joe's Oat Beverage
We tried to plain oat milk first, to establish a baseline.
This is a solid oat milk! The texture is creamy but not artificially so, and the flavor is nice and neutral. It's not overly sweet, so you could use it in both cooking and baking.
I also poured some into a cup of coffee to see how it holds up. The oat milk didn't separate at all! I'm all for any vegan milk that holds up in coffee and tea without leaving sediment at the bottom of the mug.
INGREDIENTS
water, hydrolyzed oats
Trader Joe's Chocolate Oat Milk
This was both Dave's and my favorite of the four flavored oat milks that we tried! It was darker in color than most chocolate milks, and the flavor was nice and balanced.
I really loved the texture of this one. Chocolate milks can sometimes be overly thick in an unpleasant way, but this one was just smooth and creamy without feeling unnaturally thickened.
It wasn't overly sweet or overly bitter. Just a solid, drinkable chocolate milk.
INGREDIENTS
oat base (water, hydrolyzed oats), cane sugar, cocoa processed with alkali, natural flavors, sea salt, gellan gum
Trader Joe's Maple Oat Beverage
Dave and I agreed that the maple oat beverage was a bit odd. The texture was nice -- the same as the plain and chocolate oat milks -- but the taste wasn't something we'd seek to drink a glass of.
I liked it fine, but Dave felt like the flavor tasted artificial.
I mentioned that it might be a nice ingredient in something, like a cake recipe, but Dave pointed out that you could get the same flavor with plain oat milk and maple syrup.
I also tried warming this up to see if the flavor worked better as a hot drink. Warming it up, I lost the maple flavor.
This one was just a miss for us. Even the kid didn't like it, and he loves a sweet drink!
INGREDIENTS
water, hydrolyzed oats, contains 2% or less of: cane sugar, sunflower oil, natural flavors, calcium carbonate, dipotassium phosphate, sea salt, gellan gum, xanthan gum, citric acid (acidifier), tricalcium phosphate, vitamin a palmitate, vitamin d2, riboflavin (vitamin b2), vitamin b12.
Trader Joe's Pumpkin Oat Beverage
Trader Joe's Pumpkin Oat Beverage is a pretty, orange color. Dave and I both liked it but our argument about the flavor was too funny.
I thought it tasted like pumpkin and didn't get any pumpkin spice flavor at all. Dave thought it tasted like pumpkin spice with no pumpkin flavor at all.
For a tie breaker, I had the kid weigh in after we recorded. He described it as tasting "like pumpkin pie, but a little less sweet," which I think is pretty accurate.
We tried this one warm, as well. It smelled perfume, but it lost some of its flavor warmed up. It also developed a mild tang that didn't really work for me. I'd recommend drinking this one cold.
INGREDIENTS
oat base (water, hydrolyzed oats), cane sugar, canola oil, pumpkin puree, natural flavors, sea salt, annatto extract (for color), gellan gum.
Trader Joe's Oat Nog
Dave and I both hated this nog, but the kid said it was great.
I thought the texture was just WAY too thick, like mucous. If you do decide to try Trader Joe's Oat Nog, make sure that you shake that carton a lot to avoid it coming out clumpy.
The smell and flavor seemed very nog-like to me, though. I got those notes of nutmeg.
Dave, on the other hand, thought the texture was spot on but that the flavor was off. He pointed out that conventional egg nog is very thick.
Warming this nog up did redeem it quite a bit for me. Heating it up thins the texture quite a bit, and the thicker drink works better at a warm temperature.
If you're looking for a nog to serve warm, I think this one is a good option.
INGREDIENTS
water, hydrolyzed oats, cane sugar, contains 2% or less of sunflower oil, nutmeg, turmeric [for color], annatto extract [for color], natural flavors, xanthan gum, gellan gum, calcium carbonate, dipotassium phosphate, sea salt, tricalcium phosphate, citric acid (acidifier), vitamin a palmitate, vitamin d2, riboflavin (vitamin b2), vitamin b12.
Frequently asked questions
As of this writing, the 32-ounce flavored cartons cost between $2.50 and $3 apiece. A 64-ounce carton of their plain oat milk is $4.
Trader Joe's oat beverages are made from oats, water, oil, and thickeners. The flavored varieties add sugar, flavorings, and spices to the mix. See the post for specific ingredients lists for each variety we tried.
TJ's uses thickeners to make their milk creamier.
An open carton is good for up to a week.
Trader Joe's Oat Beverages on the Pod
We talked about Robocop while drinking all the flavors of Trader Joe's Oat milk beverage listed above on the Talkin' Tofu podcast. If that sounds like your kind of thing, you can listen to the episode right here!
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